Barwick's reign ended by power struggle

Brian Barwick has agreed a £500,000 pay-off from his job as Football
Association chief executive and is now expected to significantly bring
forward his departure date from Soho Square.

In advance: Brian Barwick is expected to fast-track his departure from the FAPhoto: Reuters

By Jeremy Wilson

12:34AM BST 22 Aug 2008

He has agreed to work until the end of the year but, having already hived off many of his responsibilities to the chief operating officer, Alex Horne, a swift exit is likely for the former controller of ITV Sport.

As fresh details emerged yesterday about the breakdown in Barwick’s relationship with FA chairman Lord Triesman, the full extent of the governing body’s anger over the embarrassing timing of their announcement also became clear.

Barwick’s future had been discussed at board meetings over the past few months, but only a handful of top FA executives were aware of his imminent departure, as well as the original plan to make an announcement on the morning after Wednesday’s England friendly against the Czech Republic.

However, just as Wembley stood for the national anthems, several newspapers, including The Daily Telegraph, had learned that a pay-off on his £450,000 one-year rolling contract, which will also include add-ons, had already been agreed.

It meant a statement had to be hastily released immediately after the match, with some sort of internal investigation into the leak now likely. Both sides have agreed a confidentiality clause that prevents them from expanding significantly on Barwick’s admission that he departs in the wake of discussions with Triesman “on the role of the chief executive”.

Related Articles

In more simple terms, it had come down to a personality clash and power struggle that was only likely to result in one winner.

Yesterday, Barwick emerged from his home to say that he was “sad and disappointed” to be leaving the FA. Initially, Barwick had wanted to stay, but eventually agreed to stand down when Triesman made it clear that he felt his skills were not matched to his vision for the position of chief executive.

In particular, he felt that Barwick’s background in television did not necessarily provide the business skills to drive the modern FA forward.

Barwick’s recruitment of Fabio Capello had also caused strained relationships in the FA’s corridors of power. Several board members – including Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney and Premier League chairman Sir David Richards – had felt rushed into accepting Capello, as well as a performance-related salary that could be worth as much as £26 million over 4½ years to the Italian and his backroom staff.

Increasingly, Barwick had become marginalised and the publication of the FA’s strategic vision last May hinted at the changes to come. In a document outlining the “proposed FA executive structure”, Barwick was only linked to significant chunks of the organisation’s business by a dotted line, and he appeared to have little future involvement in the 2018 World Cup bid.

Barwick and Triesman had also disagreed over the FA’s strategic development, as well as the type of personalities who should fill key roles at Wembley and in the 2018 World Cup bid team.

The aim is to formulate a bid team by October this year, with the plan that Triesman will be part of an executive board with a specific 'bid chief executive’

In the longer term, Triesman does still intend to return to being an independent non-executive chairman, but he felt an immediate need to act over Barwick’s position because he was so concerned by the governance he had found since joining the FA in February.

For now, Triesman will act as FA executive chairman with the day-to-day support of Horne before finalising a long-term future structure.

Already the name of David Gill has been mooted as a possible candidate to succeed Barwick, but he is thought unlikely to leave his post as Manchester United chief executive. It is also not certain that the FA will feel it necessary to replace Barwick with an external appointment.

“It is obviously time for a new chapter at the Football Association,” said Barwick. “I only wish it well. It is a terrific place, full of terrific people. We have moved the organisation on leaps and bounds, and that is really important.

“If I have a genuine legacy – and we were sitting in a big stadium [on Wednesday] – the Respect programme is very special to me.

“In this sort of job you have an opportunity to make a difference – and

if I, in a very small way, improved behaviour on and off the pitch, that will do me.”

Eye-popping pay-offs

Brian Barwick’s exit will lead to the FA’s fourth major pay-off in less than five years. He will be paid his one-year rolling salary of £450,000 but is also entitled to add-ons that will take the final settlement to:

£500k However, that figure is still dwarfed by the cost of recent managerial upheavals.